ARTS

Le Vorris & Vox Presents: The Master and Margarita

From left to right: fourth-years Cecilia Boyers, Hannia Frias, and third-year Sabrina Civale

Le Vorris and Vox Circus’s adaptation of The Master and Margarita was an energetic and moving tribute to Bulgakov’s famous novel of the same name. Set in Moscow under Stalin’s oppressive regime, the novel deals with the fantastical nature of terror, intermingling the magical and the mundane when the devil himself comes to visit Moscow and sets Soviet life on its head. In the story, the beautiful Margarita seeks out her lover, The Master, who has been sent to an asylum for writing a transgressive story. Thousands of years ago, in Yersushalaem, Pontius Pilate is tormented by the memory of the wandering philosopher Yeshua, whom he sentenced to death. Le Vorris & Vox expressed the feverish energy of the book through intense acrobatic sequences, rope stunts, and other circus arts: at the exclusive Moscow Writer’s Union, the writers juggle and balance feathers on their noses, while Yeshua hangs crucified from long swaths of fabric. The magic and strangeness of the circus brought a new energy to an old and much loved story.